Newsletter

Posted March 16, 2012 12:45 am - Updated March 16, 2012 12:04 am

Special to The Record

Feast of St. Joseph celebration Monday

The Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine will celebrate of Evening Prayer for the Solemnity of St. Joseph at 7 p.m. Monday. The Most Rev. Felipe J. Estevez, bishop of St. Augustine, will be the celebrant and homilist.

Again, this year, the liturgy will honor the ministry of the Sisters of St. Joseph.

In addition, the faculty and students of St. Joseph Academy will be recognized.

“We have made this an annual event” explains the Rev. Thomas S. Willis, pastor of the Cathedral, The Sisters are a beloved part of this community. This liturgy allows us to appropriately celebrate the feast of their patron, St. Joseph, who is also the patron of the Universal Church.”

“And, this year, Bishop Estevez also wanted an opportunity to publically recognize St. Joseph Academy, Florida’s oldest Catholic high school,” Willis continued. “The school was begun by the Sisters of St. Joseph which they started almost immediately upon their arrival.”

The Sisters of St. Joseph came from Le Puy, France to St. Augustine in 1866 at the invitation of Bishop Agustin Verot, S.S., who at that time served as bishop of Savannah and vicar apostolic of Florida. Verot, who was from Le Puy, later became the first bishop of the Diocese of St. Augustine. Eight sisters came in order to teach the children of the slaves who had been freed following the Civil War.

Today, the sisters minister in six of the seven dioceses in the State of Florida.

A reception will follow the service in the courtyard behind the Cathedral.